Paolo Villaggio (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaːolo vilˈladdʒo]; 30 December 1932) is an Italian actor, voice actor, writer, director and comedian. He is noted for the characters he created with paradoxical and grotesque characteristics: Professor Kranz, the ultra-timid Giandomenico Fracchia, and the obsequious and meek accountant Ugo Fantozzi, perhaps the favourite character in Italian comedy. He has written several books, usually of satirical character. He has also acted in dramatic roles, and has appeared in several movies.

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Paolo Villaggio was born in Genoa, with a twin brother, Piero.[1] His father was Ettore Villaggio (1905–1992), a surveyor originally from Palermo. His mother, Maria, originally from Venice, was a language teacher (German).

Villaggio attended the classic school "Liceo ginnasio Andrea Doria"[2] and initially studied Law, but did not complete his degree. His jobs included being a clerk for the Italsider steel works, which inspired his character "Il ragioniere Fantozzi Ugo", "the accountant Ugo Fantozzi". Maurizio Costanzo discovered his artistic potential and in 1967 he advised Villaggio to play in a cabaret in Rome. From there, Villaggio was hired for the TV programme Quelli della domenica (Those guys of Sunday), in which Fantozzi made his first appearance, introducing his characters the aggressive "Professor Kranz" and the hypocritical "Giandomenico Fracchia".[3]

After his television experience, Villaggio started writing, for the magazines L'Espresso and L'Europeo, short stories featuring Ugo Fantozzi, a man with a weak character, dogged by misfortune and by the "mega-director" of the "mega-company" where he works. In 1971 the publishing house Rizzoli released the book Fantozzi, a collection of these stories, which sold over a million copies.[3] The first book received the Gogol Prize in Moscow and led to his 1975 appearance in the film Fantozzi, directed by Luciano Salce. The film's success led to a sequel, Il secondo tragico Fantozzi, with the same director in the following year, in which Fantozzi delivered his most famous line: "Per me ... La Corazzata Kotiomkin [sic] ... è una cagata pazzesca", or roughly "For me The Battleship Kotemkin [sic] is an unbelievable load of crap".[3]